Difference between revisions of "2010 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 20"

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==Solution==
 
==Solution==
Let <math>x</math> be the number of people wearing both a hat and a glove. Since the number of people wearing a hat or a glove must be whole numbers, the number of people in the room must be a multiple of <math>LCM(4,5)=20</math>. Since we are trying to find the minimum <math>x</math>, we must use the smallest possible value for the number of people in the room. Similarly, as we are trying to minimize <math>x</math>, we can assume that everyone in the room must be wearing either a hat or a glove or both. That is, there are no people present who wearing neither of the two items. Thus, we can say that there are <math>20</math> people in the room, all of which are wearing at least a hat or a glove.
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Let <math>x</math> be the number of people wearing both a hat and a glove. Since the number of people wearing a hat or a glove must be whole numbers, the number of people in the room must be a multiple of <math>LCM(4,5)=20</math>. Since we are trying to find the minimum <math>x</math>, we must use the smallest possible value for the number of people in the room. Similarly, we can assume that there are no people present who are wearing neither of the two items since this would unnecessarily increase the number of people in the room. Thus, we can say that there are <math>20</math> people in the room, all of which are wearing at least a hat or a glove.
  
 
It follows that there are <math>\frac{2}{5}\cdot 20 = 8</math> people wearing gloves and <math>\frac{3}{4}\cdot 20 = 15</math> people wearing hats. Then by applying the Principle of Inclusion Exclusion (PIE), the total number of people in the room wearing either a hat or a glove or both is  <math>8+15-x = 23-x</math>. Since we know that this equals <math>20</math>, it follows that <math>23-x = 20</math>, which implies that <math>x=3</math>. Thus, <math>\boxed{\textbf{(A)}\ 3}</math> is the correct answer.
 
It follows that there are <math>\frac{2}{5}\cdot 20 = 8</math> people wearing gloves and <math>\frac{3}{4}\cdot 20 = 15</math> people wearing hats. Then by applying the Principle of Inclusion Exclusion (PIE), the total number of people in the room wearing either a hat or a glove or both is  <math>8+15-x = 23-x</math>. Since we know that this equals <math>20</math>, it follows that <math>23-x = 20</math>, which implies that <math>x=3</math>. Thus, <math>\boxed{\textbf{(A)}\ 3}</math> is the correct answer.

Revision as of 16:07, 4 March 2012

Problem 20

In a room, $2/5$ of the people are wearing gloves, and $3/4$ of the people are wearing hats. What is the minimum number of people in the room wearing both a hat and a glove?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 3 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 5\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 8\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 15\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 20$

Solution

Let $x$ be the number of people wearing both a hat and a glove. Since the number of people wearing a hat or a glove must be whole numbers, the number of people in the room must be a multiple of $LCM(4,5)=20$. Since we are trying to find the minimum $x$, we must use the smallest possible value for the number of people in the room. Similarly, we can assume that there are no people present who are wearing neither of the two items since this would unnecessarily increase the number of people in the room. Thus, we can say that there are $20$ people in the room, all of which are wearing at least a hat or a glove.

It follows that there are $\frac{2}{5}\cdot 20 = 8$ people wearing gloves and $\frac{3}{4}\cdot 20 = 15$ people wearing hats. Then by applying the Principle of Inclusion Exclusion (PIE), the total number of people in the room wearing either a hat or a glove or both is $8+15-x = 23-x$. Since we know that this equals $20$, it follows that $23-x = 20$, which implies that $x=3$. Thus, $\boxed{\textbf{(A)}\ 3}$ is the correct answer.

See Also

2011 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 19
Followed by
Problem 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions